1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to signal converting circuits, and more particularly to a signal converting circuit which can interconvert RS232 (also know as EIA232) signals with I2C signals.
2. General Background
I2C (Inter-Integrated-Circuit) is a low-bandwidth, short-distance, two-wire interface for communication amongst ICs and peripherals. I2C was defined by Philips Semiconductor in the early 1980's. The BUS physically consists of 2 active wires and a ground connection. The active wires, SDA and SCL, are both bidirectional. Where SDA is the serial data line and SCL is the serial clock line. But if the transfer distance is too long, the I2C signal may suffer distortion or possibly not be received by a receiver. The RS232 model allows long distance data transmission up to 1000 meters. To obtain the advantages of long distance transmission of signals, a converting circuit is required for converting the signal from the I2C interface to the RS232 interface at the sending end and converting the signal from the RS232 interface to the I2C interface at the receiving end.
What is needed is a signal converting circuit which can interconvert RS232 signals with I2C signals.